A bill introduced in the Mississippi House of Representatives would ban supplemental feeding of deer statewide, require tagging of harvested deer and make other changes for deer hunters in response to the discovery of chronic wasting disease in Mississippi.

If a bill in the Mississippi House of Representatives passes, big changes could be on the way for deer hunters.(Photo11: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)

"Right now we need to be very aggressive about this," said Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, who wrote House Bill 768. "Mississippi is all about deer hunting. If we don't get real proactive we could lose hunting in Mississippi."

Chronic wasting disease was first confirmed in Mississippi in 2018 after a hunter observed an emaciated buck die In Issaquena County and reported it to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. Since then, over 7,000 deer have been tested statewide and seven additional deer have tested positive for CWD.

The disease is caused when proteins called prions become misshaped, spreading to other prions and, consequently, eating holes in a deer's brain. There is no cure and it's thought to always be fatal. It could take up to 16 months for a deer to show signs of CWD.

Steve Demarais, professor of wildlife ecology and management at Mississippi State University, said CWD cases are alarming but it doesn't mean the end of deer hunting in the state.

"We have a high recruitment rate, so we may never see a decline in Mississippi," Demarais told the Clarion Ledger in 2018. "Chronic wasting disease may not cause a significant decline in the population because we may produce enough fawns to compensate for that.

"It's not the Zombie Apocalypse, but it's something we need to research, manage and keep our hunters informed so they can continue to enjoy their sport and protect their families in terms of the meat they eat."

Don't feed the deer

Because the disease is thought to be spread through bodily fluids such as saliva, Currie's bill calls for a ban of hunting deer with the aid of supplemental feed and man-made mineral sites, as they bring deer close together and can increase the rate of transmission.

"We need to ban it year-round until we get this problem solved," Currie said. "You have infected deer and they go to these sites.

"As much as the hunters may not want this right now, we may have to be tough to eradicate this crisis. We're playing with fire and we just need to put it out."

The bill would also ban the use of natural deer urine as an attractant. This has already been adopted as a rule by the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks and becomes effective July 1. Passage of it in the Legislature would make the ban a state law.

Tagging and burials

Mandatory tagging of harvested deer is included in HB 768, which polls show is supported by deer hunters in Mississippi. Legislature, however, has never passed such law.

How hunters dispose of deer carcasses is also specified in the bill:

Hunters would be required to bury unused portions of deer 8 feet deep or dispose of them in a lined landfill.

Hunters could also place deer remains in containers at deer processing businesses. Remains could be picked up and taken to a lined landfall. Funding for this process, however, is still in question.

"This was sitting around and brainstorming," Currie said. "That will be determined."

The bill includes a number of other changes in how Mississippi's deer are managed and Currie said she does not know "if it will ever see the light of day."

She said she hopes it raises awareness among legislators about the situation.

"This, for me, was to sound the alarm," Currie said. "We've got to do something before it's too late.

"We have to start the conversation. Our wildlife officers are great. I just don't think what they're instructed to do from the top is enough. I think if we could have meetings and are allowed to talk about it we could have a good bill."